Method and apparatus for managing an application being executed in a portable terminal

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus are provided for preventing battery power consumption and degradation of system performance due to the system resources being utilized by applications being executed, while providing a multi-tasking function through a plurality of applications. In the method, when a plurality of applications are executed, such execution of the plurality of applications is reported to the user, so as to enable the user to terminate one or more applications, thereby preventing unnecessary consumption of battery power.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/115,881 filed May 25, 2011 in the U.S. Patentand Trademark Office, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,904,401 on Dec. 2,2014, and which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of a Koreanpatent application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office onMay 25, 2010 and assigned Ser. No. 10-2010-0048811, and a Korean patentapplication filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Mar. 31,2011 and assigned Ser. No. 10-2011-0029664, the entire disclosure ofeach of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a portable terminal. More particularly,the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for managingan application being executed in a portable terminal.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the development of portable terminals towards devices capable ofusing various types of information beyond the voice communicationfunction, portable terminals are now evolving into smart phones capableof providing various functions through various applications.

Therefore, recent portable terminals have a multi-tasking function, bywhich a user can execute and use an application while anotherapplication is being executed.

According to the multi-tasking function, the application being executedis first switched into a background execution state and a newapplication is then foreground-executed, so that a user can usefunctions provided by the foreground-executed application. As a result,the user can simultaneously perform various jobs through variousfunctions provided by the applications, while switching between theapplication being executed in the background and the application beingexecuted in the foreground.

Such a multi-tasking, in which multiple applications simultaneouslyprovide various functions while being executed in the background orforeground, can provide various advantages for users. However, themulti-tasking accelerates the battery power consumption of the portableterminal.

In other words, even though the application being executed in theforeground is switched into the background, the application switchedinto the background still utilizes a certain amount of system resourcesof the portable terminal, such as Central Processing Unit (CPU)resources and memory resources, and thereby continues consuming thebattery power of the portable terminal.

The larger the number of applications being executed in the background,the more the battery power is being consumed. Therefore, the larger thenumber of applications being executed in the background is, the shorterthe operation time (e.g., call standby time or continuous communicationtime) of the portable terminal becomes.

Further, the system resources utilized by the applications beingexecuted in the background may degrade the system performance closelyrelating to the capability of the portable terminal.

Therefore, there has been a request for a new technology capable ofpreventing unnecessary power consumption of a portable terminal andimproving the system performance thereof while increasing theconvenience of the user by allowing a simultaneous execution of multipleapplications through the multi-tasking.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to propose a solution, which can minimize the battery powerconsumption of a portable terminal and improve the system performancethereof while providing a multi-tasking function allowing a user toexecute and use multiple applications.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method ofmanaging an application being executed in a portable terminal isprovided. The method includes executing an application in response to arequest for execution of the application, and displaying information onone or more applications being executed.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method ofmanaging an application being executed in a portable terminal isprovided. The method includes identifying system resources utilized byone or more applications being executed in a background, and displayinginformation corresponding to the utilized system resources through anindicator bar.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method ofmanaging an application being executed in a portable terminal isprovided. The method includes determining whether a condition fordisplaying one or more applications being executed is satisfied, andwhen the condition is satisfied, displaying information on the one ormore applications being executed.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusfor managing an application being executed in a portable terminal isprovided. The apparatus includes a controller for executing anapplication in response to a request for execution of the application,and for controlling to display information on one or more applicationsbeing executed on a display unit.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusfor managing an application being executed in a portable terminal isprovided. The apparatus includes a controller for identifying systemresources utilized by one or more applications being executed in abackground and for controlling to display information corresponding tothe utilized system resources through an indicator bar.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusfor managing an application being executed in a portable terminal isprovided. The apparatus includes a controller for determining whether acondition for displaying one or more applications being executed issatisfied, and for controlling to display information on the one or moreapplications being executed on a display unit when the condition issatisfied.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a portable terminal according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of displaying the number ofexecuted applications according to a first exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 3A to 3D illustrate examples of screens displayed according to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A to 4D illustrate other examples of screens displayed accordingto the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of notifying a user of astatus of utilized system resources according to a second exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate examples of screens displayed according to thesecond exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to a thirdexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A to 8D illustrate first examples of screens according to thethird exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrate second examples of screens according to thethird exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a third example of a screen according to the thirdexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the embodiments described hereincan be made without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of theinvention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention is provided for illustration purpose only and not forthe purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claimsand their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a portable terminal according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. Although some devices,such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) module, a camera module, aBluetooth module, a WiFi module, an acceleration sensor, an approachsensor, an earth magnetic field sensor, and a Digital Media Broadcasting(DMB) receiver, which can be included in a typical portable terminal,are not illustrated in FIG. 1, it goes without saying that the devicesnot illustrated in FIG. 1 can also be included in a portable terminalaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and canprovide corresponding functions.

A portable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention corresponds to a mobile electronic device, such as one of avideo phone, a mobile phone, a smart phone, an International MobileTelecommunication 2000 (IMT-2000) terminal, a Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA) terminal, a Universal Mobile TelecommunicationService (UMTS) terminal, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a PortableMultimedia Player (PMP), a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB)terminal, a personal computer, a desktop computer, a notebook computer,etc.

Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless transmitter/receiver 23 includes a RadioFrequency (RF) unit and a modem. The RF unit includes an RF transmitterfor up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal,and an RF receiver for low noise-amplifying a received signal anddown-converting the frequency of the received signal. The modem includesa transmitter for encoding and modulating a signal to be transmitted anda receiver for decoding and demodulating the signal received through theRF unit.

The audio processor 25 may have a codec, which includes a data codec andan audio codec. The data codec processes packet data, etc. and the audiocodec processes an audio signal including voice and multimedia files,etc. The audio processor 25 converts a digital audio signal receivedthrough the modem to an analog signal and reproduces the convertedanalog signal, or converts an analog signal generated by a microphoneinto a digital audio signal through the audio codec and transmits theconverted digital audio signal to the modem. The codec may be eitherseparately arranged or included in the controller 10.

The key input unit 27 includes keys used for the input of numbers andcharacter information and function keys used for the setting of variousfunctions. When the display unit 50 according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention is implemented with a touch-screen, the keyinput unit 27 may be excluded from the construction of a portableterminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventionor may include only preset minimum keys.

The memory 30 may include a program memory and a data memory. Theprogram memory stores programs for controlling general operations of theportable terminal. The memory 30 may be Random-Access Memory (RAM),Read-Only Memory (ROM), or a combination thereof. The memory 30 may bean external memory, such as Compact Flash (CF), Secure Digital (SD),Micro-SD, Mini-SD, Extreme Digital (xD), or Memory Stick. The memory 30according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention storesapplications providing various functions implemented by the portableterminal, and the applications may be previously provided at the time ofrelease of the portable terminal into the market or downloaded by users.

The display unit 50 may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or anOrganic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), such as a Passive Matrix OLED(PMOLED) or an Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED), and outputs various displayinformation provided by the portable terminal. The display unit 50according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may have atouch screen and thus operate as an input unit together with the keyinput unit 27, in order to control the portable terminal.

The controller 10 controls general operations of the portable terminalaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and mayswitch and control the operation of the portable terminal according toan input of the user through the key input unit 27 or the display unit50. The controller 10 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU). Theoperation of the controller 10 will be discussed in more detail throughthe exemplary embodiments of the present invention described below.

First Exemplary Embodiment

The first exemplary embodiment of the present invention corresponds to aprocess of identifying the number of executed applications and thenreporting the identified number to a user. FIG. 2 is a flowchartillustrating a process of displaying the number of executed applicationsaccording to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, andFIGS. 3A to 4D illustrate examples of screens displayed according to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The following description of the first exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4D is based on anassumption that a first application, a second application, and a thirdapplication have been sequentially executed.

In steps S201 to S202, when there is a request for execution of thefirst application from a user, the controller 10 executes the firstapplication and then enters into a standby mode while controlling todisplay the number “1” through a preset application in order to notifythat only one application (i.e., the first application) is beingexecuted.

Referring to FIGS. 3A to 3D showing step S202, the user can request theexecution of the first application by selecting (e.g., touching) thefirst application in the standby screen (or home screen) shown in FIG.3A, and the controller 10 executes the first application as shown inFIG. 3B.

Then, in order to notify that one application (i.e., the firstapplication) has been executed (or is being executed), the controller 10may control to display the number “1” (this number can be made todisappear after being displayed for a preset time) on the screen onwhich the first application is being executed, as indicated by numeral310 in FIG. 3B.

Otherwise, according to a modified exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, if the user requests an entry into a standby screen byinputting a preset key (e.g., a home screen key), the number “1” may bedisplayed through a preset widget (or application), such as the “programmonitor” 320 shown in FIG. 3C, so as to notify the number of executedapplications.

In steps S203 to S204, when there is a request for the execution of thesecond application, the controller 10 executes the second applicationand simultaneously controls to display the number “2” so as to notifythat two applications (including the first application and the secondapplication) are being executed.

Referring to FIGS. 3A to 4D, in steps S203 to S204, the user can requestthe execution of the second application by selecting the secondapplication through an entry into the standby screen even while thefirst application is being executed, and the controller 10 firstswitches the first application being executed into a backgroundexecution state and then executes the second application in a foregroundstate as shown in FIG. 3D.

Then, in order to notify that two applications including the firstapplication (being executed in the background) and the secondapplication (being currently executed, that is, being executed in theforeground) are being executed, the controller 10 may control to displaythe number “2” (this number can be made to disappear after beingdisplayed for a preset time) on the screen on which the secondapplication is being executed, as indicated by numeral 330 in FIG. 3D.

At this time, as in the modified exemplary embodiment described above,when there is a request for entry into the standby screen, thecontroller 10 may control to display the number “2” through a presetwidget, such as the program monitor 410 shown in FIG. 4A, so as tonotify the user that the number of executed applications is two.

In steps S205 to S206, when there is a request for the execution of thethird application, the controller 10 executes the third application andsimultaneously controls to display the number “3”, so as to notify thatthree applications (including the first application, the secondapplication, and the third application) are being executed.

Referring to FIGS. 4A to 4D showing steps S205 to S206, the user canrequest the execution of the third application through an entry into thestandby screen even while the first application (being executed in thebackground) and the second application (being currently executed, thatis, being executed in the foreground) are being executed, and thecontroller 10 first switches the second application being executed, likethe first application, into the background execution state and thenexecutes the third application in the foreground state as shown in FIG.4B.

Thereafter, similarly to steps S201 to S204 described above, in order tonotify that three applications including the first application (beingexecuted in the background), the second application (being executed inthe background), and the third application (being currently executed inthe foreground) are being executed, the controller 10 may control todisplay the number “3” on the screen, on which the third application isbeing executed, or control to display the number “3” through a presetwidget, as indicated by numeral 420 in FIG. 4B or as shown in FIG. 4C.At this time, if the screen of the portable terminal enters into astandby mode as shown in FIG. 4C, the third application is also executedin the background.

By the process including steps S201 to S206 according to the firstexemplary embodiment described above, the user can identify the numberof applications being executed (in the background and foreground).

At this time, according to a modification of the first exemplaryembodiment, it is possible to display an icon or icons of theapplication or applications being executed, instead of displaying thenumber of applications being executed.

For example, instead of displaying the number “3” through a widget 430named “program monitor” as shown in FIG. 4C, it is possible to displayicons corresponding to the first application, the second application,and the third application in the widget 430 (specifically, reduced-sizedicons may be displayed in the widget).

Further, according to another modification of the first exemplaryembodiment, it is possible to display the number of applications beingexecuted in the background together with the same number of gauges asthe number of applications, as indicated by reference numeral 321 ofFIG. 3C, reference numeral 411 of FIG. 4A, and reference numeral 431 ofFIG. 4C, so as to enable the user to easily identify the number ofapplications being executed in the background.

Moreover, according to an additional modification of the first exemplaryembodiment, a scheme of providing visual effects to icons displayed on astandby screen (for example, a home screen) is provided, so as to enablea user to more easily identify the number of applications being executedin the background.

When it is identified that the second application and the thirdapplication are being executed in the background, the controller 10according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can give avisual effect to the icons 440 and 450 corresponding to the applications(for example, the controller 10 may change the colors or shapes of theicons) in the standby screen as shown in FIG. 4D, so as to enable a userto easily identify that the second application and the third applicationare being executed in the background.

Further, according to a modified exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, it is possible to change the size of an icon or to provide ananimation effect to the icon, according to the amount of systemresources utilized by an application corresponding to the icon, which isbeing executed in the background.

As described above, through a single identification of icons displayedon a standby screen, the user can identify the applications executed inthe background and can easily identify the quantity of utilized systemresources.

Meanwhile, in the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention,the user is notified of the number of executed applications through avisual effect (e.g., visual information provided through a number,widget, or application). However, in various modified exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, the user may be notified of thenumber of executed applications through various other effects, includingauditory effect and tactile effect, which can be recognized by the user.

For example, when the number of executed applications is two, theportable terminal may be vibrated twice or may output sound information(e.g., two beep sounds) corresponding to the number “2”, so that theuser can identify that the number of executed applications is two.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

The second exemplary embodiment of the present invention corresponds toa process of notifying a user of a status of the system resources, whichare utilized by one or more applications being executed in thebackground, through an indicator bar. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustratinga process of notifying a user of a status of utilized system resourcesaccording to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, andFIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate examples of screens displayed according to thesecond exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the second exemplary embodiment of the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 6D.

In the following description of the second exemplary embodiment, theutilization of the system resources may refer to either one or both ofthe use ratio (or utilization ratio) of a CPU (or the controller 10 as aCPU) or the use ratio (or utilization ratio) of the memory 30. Morespecifically, in exemplary embodiments of the present invention, theutilization of the system resources may be considered as, for example,2% or 3% corresponding to the CPU utilization ratio (e.g., 2%) or thememory utilization ratio (e.g., 3%), respectively, or may be consideredas 5%, which corresponds to the sum of two utilization ratios.

Further, the indicator bar corresponds to an area for displayingadditional information related to the use of a portable terminal on aparticular location of a display screen (e.g., at a top or bottom of thedisplay screen). The indicator bar may either disappear when a presetapplication is executed or continue to be displayed even duringexecution of one or more applications. The indicator bar display may oneor more of time information (e.g., current time), intensity of areceived signal, remaining power of the battery, vibration settingstatus (e.g., vibration on/off), information on wireless communicationconnection state (e.g., connection state of WiFi or Bluetooth), etc.

In steps S501 to S502, the controller 10 identifies the system resourcesutilized by one or more applications being executed in the background,and controls the displaying of the indicator bar so that the displayingof the indicator bar corresponds to the utilized system resources.

The one or more applications being executed in the background utilizethe system resources, which consume the power of the portable terminal.Therefore, in order to prevent power consumption by an application whichis not being executed in the foreground (that is, an application beingexecuted in the background), the controller 10 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may notify the user of theutilization ratio, which indicates a proportion of the system resourcesutilized by one or more applications being executed in the backgroundwith respect to the entire system resource, through a visualdiscrimination (e.g., discrimination by colors) between the utilizationratios.

That is, the controller 10 may arrange levels for classifying the sum ofthe system resources utilized by one or more applications being executedin the background and control to display the indicator bar withclassified colors according to the levels, so as to notify the user ofthe utilization ratio.

For example, when the sum of the system resources utilized by the one ormore applications being executed in the background corresponds to lessthan 5% of the entire system resources, the controller 10 may control todisplay the indicator bar without any additional color as the indicatorbar 600 shown in FIG. 6A. When the sum of the system resources utilizedby the one or more applications being executed in the backgroundcorresponds to between 5% and 10% of the entire system resources, thecontroller 10 may control to display the indicator bar in a green coloras the indicator bar 610 shown in FIG. 6B. When the sum of the utilizedsystem resources corresponds to between 10% and 20% of the entire systemresources, the controller 10 may control to display the indicator bar inyellow color as the indicator bar 620 shown in FIG. 6C. Further, whenthe sum of the utilized system resources corresponds to more than 20% ofthe entire system resources, the controller 10 may control to displaythe indicator bar in red color as the indicator bar 630 shown in FIG.6D. As a result, if the indicator bar is being displayed in red color,the user can identify that the one or more applications being executedin the background are consuming too much power, and may terminate anynumber of the one or more applications being executed in the background.Here, the user can set the levels of the system resources utilizationand the colors corresponding to the ranges according to the levels, andmay set other visual effects in addition to the colors.

According to a modification of the second exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, simultaneously while displaying the indicator barwith a discriminated color corresponding to the sum of the systemresources utilized by the one or more applications being executed in thebackground, it is possible to display the sum of the system resourcescorresponding to the discriminated color in the indicator bar.

For example, simultaneously while the indicator bar 610 is displayed inthe green color as shown in FIG. 6B, a numerical value reading “5%” (orinformation reading “utilized system resource 5%”) may be displayed on apreset portion within the indicator bar 610, so as to notify the userthat the applications being executed in the background are utilizing 5%of the entire system resources of the portable terminal. Therefore, anumerical value reading “10%” (or information reading “utilized systemresource 10%”) may be displayed together with a corresponding color on apreset portion within the indicator bar 620 shown in FIG. 6C, and anumerical value reading “20%” (or information reading “utilized systemresource 20%”) may be displayed together with a corresponding color on apreset portion within the indicator bar 630 shown in FIG. 6D.

Meanwhile, in order to display information (e.g., number, systemresource utilization, etc.) on the currently executed application, it ispossible to either individually employ or adopt various combinations ofthe display methods of the first exemplary embodiment and the secondexemplary embodiment of the present invention as described above.

Third Exemplary Embodiment

The third exemplary embodiment of the present invention corresponds to aprocess of displaying a list of one or more applications being executedand the system resources utilized by each of the applications, and thenterminating a preset one or more applications being executed in responseto a user's request.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to a thirdexemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 8A to 8D illustratefirst examples of screens according to the third exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrate second examples ofscreens according to the third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 10 illustrates a third example of a screen accordingto the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In steps S701 to S702, the controller 10 determines if a condition fordisplaying one or more applications being executed is satisfied. Whenthe condition is satisfied, the controller 10 controls to display thesystem resources utilized by the one or more applications being executedas shown in FIG. 8A.

The satisfaction of the condition for displaying one or moreapplications being executed in step S701 may have various meaningsaccording to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, whichinclude at least five basic meanings as follows.

First, the satisfaction of the condition for displaying one or moreapplications being executed may signify a state in which the user hasidentified the number of applications being executed in the backgroundand selected a number widget, or application, which notifies the number.

For example, the user may select one of the numbers, widgets, andapplications, each of which indicates the number of applications beingexecuted, as indicated by reference numerals 310, 320, 330, 410, 420,and 430 of FIGS. 3A to 4D, and the controller 10 may determine thisselection as a satisfaction of the condition for the displaying and thuscontrol to display a list of one or more applications being executed inthe background together with system resources utilized by the one ormore applications.

In other words, by selecting (e.g., touching) one of the numbers,widgets, and applications, each of which indicates the number ofapplications being executed in the background, as shown in FIGS. 3A to4D, the user can request that the one or more applications beingexecuted in the background and system resources utilized by the one ormore applications should be displayed either on the entire screen asshown in FIG. 8A or on a smaller-sized screen rather than the entirescreen.

Second, the satisfaction of the condition for the displaying may signifya state in which the user has been notified of the sum of the systemresources utilized by one or more applications being executed in thebackground through an indicator bar and has made a preset input throughthe indicator bar.

For example, the user may select one of the indicator bars indicated byreference numerals 610, 620, and 630 of FIGS. 6A to 6D according to thesecond exemplary embodiment of the present invention described above andthus request that a list of one or more applications being executed inthe background and system resources utilized by the one or moreapplications should be displayed.

That is, the user first identifies the status of the system resourcesutilized by the one or more applications being executed in thebackground through the change (e.g., visual change) of the indicatorbar. Then, when the user determines that too many system resources arebeing utilized by the one or more applications being executed in thebackground, the user may select the indicator bar notifying of thisinformation (for example, the user may touch the indicator bar 630displayed in red color). Then, the controller 10 determines that thetouch input of the indicator bar has satisfied the condition for thedisplaying, and may control to display the one or more applicationsbeing executed in the background and the system resources utilized bythe one or more applications as shown in FIG. 8A.

According to a modified exemplary embodiment of the present invention,when movement of the indicator bar is allowed, the user can move theindicator bar by dragging the indicator bar, so as to request that alist of applications being executed in the background and systemresources utilized by the applications should be displayed. For example,an indicator bar located at the top of the display screen can be movedto a lower position in the screen through a dragging input (for example,the indicator bar can be touched and then dragged down to the lowerend). Therefore, the user can change the location of the indicator barthrough the dragging, and the controller 10 may determine such alocation change as a satisfaction of the condition for the displayingand then control to display a list of one or more applications beingexecuted in the background and system resources utilized by theapplications.

Third, the satisfaction of the condition for the displaying may signifya state in which an execution time (background execution time) of theone or more applications being executed in the background exceeds apreset reference time.

When a plurality of applications are executed and are then switched intoa background execution state or a foreground execution state, it is notalways possible for a user to notice the existence of one or moreapplications being executed in the background or to identify how longthe one or more applications have been in the background executionstate. The fact that one or more applications are being executed in thebackground for a long time signifies that it is highly probable that theuser would not use the one or more applications for the time being,which implies that the battery power of the portable terminal is beingunnecessarily consumed.

Therefore, when there are one or more applications being executed in thebackground as in the example when each application is switched from theforeground execution state to the background execution state, thecontroller 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention determines how long each application has been executed in thebackground state. Thereafter, if it is determined that the time duringwhich any application has been executed in the background exceeds apreset time (for example, 10 minutes, which can be selectively set bythe user), the controller 10 may determine that the condition for thedisplaying has been satisfied and may control to display a list of theone or more applications being executed in the background and the systemresources utilized by the one or more applications.

If the condition for the displaying is satisfied when the time duringwhich any application has been executed in the background exceeds apreset time, it is possible to make a configuration for displaying onlythose applications, which have been executed in the background for morethan the preset time, together with the system resources utilized bythose applications.

Fourth, the satisfaction of the condition for the displaying may signifya state in which it is identified that the remaining battery power ofthe portable terminal is lower than a preset threshold.

The controller 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention checks the remaining battery power at a preset time interval.When the controller 10 has identified that the remaining battery poweris lower than a preset threshold (for example, 50%, which can beselectively set by the user), the controller 10 determines that thecondition of the displaying has been satisfied, and then controls todisplay the one or more applications being executed and system resourcesutilized by the applications as shown in FIG. 8A. That is, when it isdetermined that the remaining battery power of the portable terminal hasreached a value lower than a preset threshold, the controller 10 cancontrol to automatically display a list of one or more applicationsbeing executed in the background and system resources utilized by theone or more applications.

Fifth, the satisfaction of the condition for the displaying may signifya state in which the number of executed applications exceeds a presetnumber.

When 20 applications are being executed by a request from a user, onlyone of the 20 applications is executed in the foreground while the other19 applications are executed in the background. Then, the excessivelylarge number of applications executed in the background may causeunnecessary consumption of the battery power of the portable terminal.

Therefore, when it is identified that the number of applicationsexecuted in the background is larger than or equal to a preset number(for example, seven, which can be selectively set by the user), thecontroller 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may determine that the condition of the displaying has beensatisfied, and then control to display the one or more applicationsbeing executed in the background and the system resources utilized bythe one or more applications. At this time, the number of applicationsrelating to the satisfaction of the condition for the displaying mayinclude either only the number of applications executed in thebackground or both the number of applications executed in the backgroundand the number of applications executed in the foreground.

Like the condition for the displaying in step S701, the method ofdisplaying one or more executed applications and system resourcesutilized by the one or more executed applications (hereinafter, referredto as simply “displaying method”) in step S702 also includes variousmodifications according to exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention as described below.

First, the displaying method of step S702 can be implemented by anexemplary embodiment in which only one or more applications beingexecuted in the background while utilizing the system resources by aproportion exceeding a preset value (or preset threshold) are displayed.More specifically, in displaying the one or more applications beingexecuted in the background (e.g., the one or more applications which arenot currently used by the user) and the system resources utilized by theone or more applications, only applications utilizing more than a presetproportion of the system resources (e.g., applications utilizing morethan 5% of the CPU and memory) may be displayed in a discriminatedmanner. In other words, instead of displaying all applications beingexecuted in the background, only applications utilizing more than apreset proportion of the system resources and thus having a relativelylarge influence on the power consumption of the battery may beseparately displayed.

Therefore, when it is determined in step S701 that the condition for thedisplaying has been satisfied, the controller 10 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention controls to display onlythe one or more applications being executed in the background whileutilizing the system resources by a proportion exceeding a preset value(e.g., 5%), like the second application and the third application shownin FIG. 8B.

Second, the displaying method of step S702 can be implemented by anexemplary embodiment in which the utilization proportions of the systemresources utilized by the one or more applications being executed in thebackground are identified and the one or more applications are displayedwhile being arranged in an ascending order or descending order of theutilization proportions of the system resources. More specifically, allapplications being executed in the background may be displayed whilethey are arranged based on the utilization proportions of the systemresources (in an ascending order or descending order of the utilizationproportions).

Therefore, when it is determined in step S701 that the condition for thedisplaying has been satisfied, the controller 10 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention controls to display theapplications being executed in the background together with theutilization proportions of the system resources in an ascending order ofthe utilization proportions, as shown in FIG. 8C.

Third, the displaying method of step S702 can be implemented by anexemplary embodiment in which only applications using devices consuminglarge standby power while being executed in the background aredisplayed.

Not only the one or more applications being executed in the backgroundutilize the system resources and consume power (i.e., battery power) ofthe portable terminal, but any device operating in relation to anyexecuted application also consumes power of the portable terminal. Thisimplies that, even when one or more applications being executed in thebackground do not utilize a high proportion of the system resources, ifone or more devices operating in relation to the executed one or moreapplications consume large standby power, the one or more applicationsbeing executed in the background while using the one or more devicesconsume more power than the other applications which do not use thedevice or devices.

Therefore, when it is determined in step S701 that the condition for thedisplaying has been satisfied, the controller 10 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention controls to display onlythe one or more applications using devices consuming relatively largestandby power, which include the fourth application using the cameradevice and the fifth application using the GPS device as shown in FIG.8D, in a discriminated manner.

By combining the five exemplary embodiments relating to the condition ofthe displaying in step S701 and the three exemplary embodiments relatingto the displaying method in step S702, it is possible to yield variousadditional exemplary embodiments of the present invention, through whichexemplary embodiments of the present invention can allow a selectivedisplaying of only applications corresponding to a preset conditionamong the one or more applications being executed in the background.

As one example of the yieldable exemplary embodiments, when there areone or more applications, which use one or more devices consuming arelatively large amount of standby power and have been executed in thebackground for more than 10 minutes, a list of the one or moreapplications is automatically (or manually by the user) displayed, sothat the user can terminate one of the one or more applications.

As another example of the yieldable exemplary embodiments, when morethan a preset number of applications (e.g., more than ten applications)are being executed (in the background or the foreground or in both ofthem), only applications utilizing a preset proportion (e.g., 3%) of thesystem resources are automatically (or manually by the user) displayedamong the ten applications, so that the user can selectively (orcollectively) terminate one or more of the applications, which are beingexecuted in the background and utilize a high proportion of the systemresources, thereby consuming large battery power and degrading thesystem performance.

In steps S703 to S704, after steps S701 to S702, when there is a requestfor termination of at least one of the displayed applications, thecontroller 10 controls to terminate the one or more applicationsrequested to be terminated.

When a list of one or more executed applications is displayed as shownin one of FIGS. 8A to 8D, the user can selectively terminate at leastone application utilizing a large proportion of the system resources andconsuming too much battery power or collectively terminate all thedisplayed applications.

For example, the user can select (e.g., touch) the END button 810 ofFIG. 8A, so as to request the termination of the third application,which utilizes 4% of the CPU and 5% of the RAM. In response to therequest, the controller 10 controls to terminate the third applicationand update the status information on the applications being executed andthe utilized resources as shown in FIG. 9A.

Further, when the user touches and selects the “CLOSE ALL” button 820,the controller 10 collectively terminates the one or more applicationsbeing executed (including the first application, the second application,and the third application) and notifies the user of information on thecollective termination as shown in FIG. 9B. Here, the terminated one ormore applications may correspond to all applications being executed inthe background or all displayed applications.

According to a modification of the third exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention as shown in FIGS. 9C and 10, when the user has therequested termination of a preset application, the portable terminal maydisplay additional information about the application requested to beterminated, based on the list of one or more applications being executedand the utilized system resources.

When there are many applications being executed and the user wants toterminate one application, which the user does not have any experienceof using, among the applications being executed, the user may not beexactly aware of the function which the application provides and thefunction which the application is performing. Therefore, exemplaryembodiments of the present invention enable the user to additionallyacquire information on the application, which the user wants toterminate, such as advice for the application (e.g., advice relating tomain functions and use functions) and an explanation on the operationbeing executed.

For example, when the user has requested to terminate the secondapplication, the controller 10 may control to display informationnotifying that the second application is transmitting or receiving dataas shown in FIG. 9C, so as to ask the user for confirmation of theintention to terminate the second application, or may displayinformation on how to use the portable terminal or information (e.g.,instructions or advice) relating to the second application as shown inFIG. 10, so as to ask the user for confirmation of the intention toterminate the second application.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it ispossible to prevent the battery power consumption and the degradation ofthe system performance due to the system resources utilized by one ormore applications being executed, while providing a multi-taskingfunction through a plurality of applications.

Also, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, whena plurality of applications are executed, such execution of theapplications is reported to the user, so as to enable the user toterminate one or more applications, thereby preventing unnecessaryconsumption of battery power.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of managing one or more applicationsbeing executed in a portable terminal, the method comprising:displaying, as at least part of a user selectable user interface item, agraphical indication of an amount of collective resources used by one ormore executing applications, the user interface item being displayed ona portion of a display of the portable terminal; receiving a first userselection of the user interface item displayed on the portion of thedisplay through an input device of the portable terminal; in response tothe first user selection, displaying a list of the one or more executingapplications including a respective amount of resources used by each ofthe one or more executing applications on the display and displaying oneor more buttons corresponding to each of the one or more executingapplications on the display; receiving a second user selection of one ofthe one or more buttons to stop the execution of at least one of the oneor more executing applications through the input device; in response tothe second user selection, stopping the execution of the at least one ofthe one or more executing applications; and after the stopping of theexecution of the at least one of the one or more executing applications,updating the amount of collective resources, wherein the resources usedby the one or more executing applications include at least one ofCentral Processing Unit (CPU) and memory resources.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the displaying of the list of the one or more executingapplications comprises displaying the list of the one or more executingapplications in one of an ascending and a descending order according tothe respective amount of resources used by the each of the one or moreexecuting applications.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayingof the list of the one or more executing applications comprisesdisplaying a number of the one or more executing applications.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the displaying of the list of the one or moreexecuting applications comprises displaying a button to stop theexecution of all of the one or more executing applications.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the displaying of the list of the one or moreexecuting applications comprises displaying one or more iconscorresponding to each of the one or more executing applications.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user interface item is movable.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first user input and thesecond user input is a touch input.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe user interface item corresponds to one of a program monitor widgetand a program monitor application.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theuser interface item is displayed on a home screen.
 10. A portableterminal for managing one or more applications being executed, theportable terminal comprising: an input device; a display; and at leastone processor configured to: control to display, as at least part of auser selectable user interface item, a graphical indication of an amountof collective resources used by one or more executing applications, theuser interface item being displayed on a portion of the display, controlto receive a first user selection of the user interface item displayedon the portion of the display through the input device, control to, inresponse to the first user selection, display a list of the one or moreexecuting applications including a respective amount of resources usedby each of the one or more executing applications on the display anddisplay one or more buttons corresponding to each of the one or moreexecuting applications on the display, control to receive a second userselection of one of the one or more buttons to stop the execution of atleast one of the one or more executing applications through the inputdevice, stop the execution of the at least one of the one or moreexecuting applications in response to the second user selection, andupdate, after the stopping of the execution of the at least one of theone or more executing applications, the first amount of collectiveresources, wherein the resources used by the one or more executingapplications include at least one of Central Processing Unit (CPU) andmemory resources.
 11. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to control to display the listof the one or more executing applications in one of an ascending and adescending order according to the respective resources used by the eachof the one or more executing applications.
 12. The portable terminal ofclaim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured tocontrol to display, when controlling to display the list of the one ormore executing applications, a number of the one or more executingapplications.
 13. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to control to display, whendisplaying the list of the one or more executing applications, a buttonto stop the execution of all of the one or more executing applications.14. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to control to display, when displayingthe list of the one or more executing applications, one or more iconscorresponding to each of the one or more executing applications.
 15. Theportable terminal of claim 10, wherein the user interface item ismovable.
 16. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein the input deviceand the display collectively form a touchscreen, and wherein at leastone of the first user input and the second user input is a touch inputon the touchscreen.
 17. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein theuser interface item corresponds to one of a program monitor widget and aprogram monitor application.
 18. The portable terminal of claim 10,wherein the user interface item is displayed on a home screen.
 19. Anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with one ormore instructions, which when executed by at least one processor of aportable terminal, causes at least one processor to: control to display,as at least part of a user selectable user interface item, a graphicalindication of an amount of collective resources used by one or moreexecuting applications, the user interface item being displayed on aportion of a display of the portable terminal; control to receive afirst user selection of the user interface item displayed on the portionof the display through an input device of the portable terminal; controlto, in response to the first user selection, display a list of the oneor more executing applications including a respective amount ofresources used by each of the one or more executing applications on thedisplay and display one or more buttons corresponding to each of the oneor more executing applications on the display; control to receive asecond user selection of one of the one or more buttons to stop theexecution of at least one of the one or more executing applicationsthrough the input device; stop the execution of the at least one of theone or more executing applications in response to the second userselection; and update, after the stopping of the execution of the atleast one of the one or more executing applications, the amount ofcollective resources, wherein the resources used by the one or moreexecuting applications include at least one of Central Processing Unit(CPU) and memory resources.